State puts its money behind electronic tethers to cut into Genesee County jail overcrowding

A Genesee County Jail inmate waits while activating a GPS tether outside of the county jail in this 2009 Flint Journal file photo.

GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- The state is about to foot the bill for putting at least 100 inmates on electronic tether, the latest attempt to free up cells in the over-crowded county jail.

State and county officials say the migration of inmates from jail to tether has already started with the state giving the county special help, paying for 135 tether activations since June.

The state-funded activations are for inmates who can't afford to pay the charge of electronic monitoring -- about $10 per day -- but otherwise qualify for the program.

Sheriff Robert Pickell said he's taking advantage of the state's willingness to pay for tethers for the poor as he prepares to oversee the opening of the Flint city lockup in the next 45 days and loses the ability to send some inmates to other county jails -- also at state expense.

"I think there's a lot of people in the jail that would be good candidates" for tether, Pickell said. "I think to be successful, we've got to get up to over 100 (people in the program) and stay up over 100."

The sheriff said only people with a history of nonviolence are considered for release on tether, and judges in their criminal cases make the final decision whether to release someone from jail.

The Flint Journal could not reach Genesee County Circuit Chief Judge Richard Yuille for comment, but county Board of Commissioners Chairman Jamie Curtis said Yuille has been supportive of the program.

"It's getting better. More judges are using it ...," Pickell said. "Some judges use it more than others."

Last week, 52 of the 73 people on the county tether program were covered under the new state funding, according the county.

Officials here said representatives of Gov. Rick Snyder have been pushing them to make more use of Global Positioning System tethers as part of the state's stepped-up effort to reduce crime here.

State lawmakers set aside $3.5 million in the coming fiscal year to help cut crime in Flint, which has the highest violent crime rate in the nation, according to FBI statistics. The money is being used to reopen and operate the Flint city lockup, which can house 110 detainees, for the tether program and for a limited number of county-to county inmate transfers.

State Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan called the tether program a best practice, and officials said they can monitor an inmate for less than $10 per day compared to the $68 a day cost of lodging them in the county jail.

"I think we will do as many as are needed," Marlan said. "The sheriff is making the decision" of whom to recommend for the program.

"It's geared to Genesee County (which has) one of the smallest per-capita jails in the state so you have to get creative on how you manage jail space," Marlan said. "I think its going to decrease crime."

Although tethers have been used for years here, they have only been accessible to those who could afford to pay for monitoring.

Powered by GPS, a tether allows a contractor to track the whereabouts of the wearer to ensure they are following court orders and curfews. An alcohol detector is able to detect whether the person wearing it has been drinking, Pickell said.

So far, the sheriff said two people on state-funded tether here have violated terms of the monitored release and both were returned to jail.

In a news release last week, Snyder's office said it is working with Pickell and local prosecutors to implement wider use of the program that "allows nonviolent offenders to wear an electronic monitoring device on their ankle prior to their trial date."

"This will help save jail space for the most violent offenders, allow ongoing employment opportunities for nonviolent offenders and reduce overall costs," the news release said.

As recently as last week there were 704 inmates in the county jail, 124 over its rated capacity.

Pickell said that tethers are critical to prevent over-crowding at
the jail because the opening of the Flinty city lockup will result in
additional referrals to the county jail.

The boost in tether comes at the same time that the state has drastically cut back on the number of inmates from here who are being housed in other county jails.

In the past year, about 700 inmates have been diverted from the Genesee County Jail to jails in neighboring counties at state expense.

"They are saying, 'We want to get out of that business,' " the sheriff said.